2011 ECAC West Tournament
The 2011 ECAC West Tournaments took place in February and March 2011. =Men= =Women= The regular season co-champions were the RIT Tigers and the Plattsburgh Cardinals. RIT, winning their first regular-season title since moving to the ECAC West in 2007, won the top seed by winning the common-opponents tiebreaker over Plattsburgh. The seeds for the tournament are: # RIT Tigers # Plattsburgh Cardinals # Elmira Soaring Eagles # Neumann Knights # Oswego Great Lakers # Utica Pioneers The Buffalo State Bengals, Chatham Cougars, Potsdam Bears, and Cortland Red Dragons failed to qualify for the tournament. Quarterfinals RIT and Plattsburgh received byes into the semifinals, leaving #3 to host #6 and #4 to host #5 on Saturday, February 26. Utica at Elmira Despite pouring 53 shots on goal, including 21 in the third period, Elmira only beat Utica netminder Marissa Hotaling once, and that wasn't enough as Utica scored twice. Utica advances to play RIT. Elmira, who won the last three ECAC West tournaments, instead exits early and falls out of contention for the national tournament. Oswego at Neumann In the first period, Neumann's Jessica Schroeder scored a shorthanded goal, one of 17 shots in that period for the Knights. The Lakers managed only three shots, a number they repeated in the second period; the difference is that one of those second-period shots went in, on the power play. In the third, Oswego—the only team to have beaten league leader RIT this season—woke up and got 11 shots on net, but none went in, sending the game to overtime. Both teams had chances in overtime, but no one scored until Neumann's Mariah Fairgrieve ended it in the 14th minute of the second overtime. Neumann advances to play Plattsburgh. Semi-finals The teams were reseeded for this round. The championship weekend was March 5 and 6 at RIT. Utica at RIT Like Elmira, RIT had trouble solving Utica's netminder, pouring 42 shots onto net. Only one snuck past Hotaling, however. The goal was scored by freshman Kourtney Kunichika in the first. Utica's attempt to equalize was stymied in the third by a holding call with 2:19 to play. Despite being on the penalty kill, Hotaling was pulled with 1:08 remaining; Sarah Dagg scored into the empty net 29 seconds later. RIT advances to its first ECAC West championship game. Neumann vs. Plattsburgh Despite outshooting Neumann 41–18 for the game, Plattsburgh still found themselves tied with the Knights late in the third. Fortunately for them, Neumann's Stephanie Nakamura took a tripping penalty with 2:52 remaining; Steph Moon netted the power play goal for the Cardinals to send them to the championship game. Plattsburgh advances to face RIT in the final. Final Plattsburgh at RIT Previously this season, the Tigers and the Cardinals had battled to 0–0 and 2–2 ties, both at Ritter Arena. This game was shaping up to be another epic goaltender duel until Plattsburgh's Brittany Mead finally scored at the 5-minute mark of the third period. RIT's Tenecia Hiller equalized the score on the power play at 13:36. The game-winning goal was also scored with the man-advantage, as freshman Kourtney Kunichika got the game winner past Mandy Mackrell at 17:34. Plattsburgh pulled Mackrell with 48 seconds remaining but couldn't muster a shot on goal with the extra attacker. RIT wins its first ECAC West championship and earns the league's autobid to the NCAA tournament. Despite being ranked third in the Eastern region by the NCAA, Plattsburgh will miss the national tournament for the first time since 2003. The Pool C at-large bids went to West #1 Wisconsin-River Falls and East #2 Norwich, both of whom lost their conference championship games; had either won, Plattsburgh likely would have been in. All-Tournament Team Kourtney Kunichika is the Tournament MVP. Category:ECAC West tournaments ECAC West